Stonyhill: 2009

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Struggles of Writing a Book

One day, one of master Nasrudin's students asked him: "Mulla, who has the most difficult task in the world? Is it the one who conquers an empire? Or the one who has the power to do so, but is able to restrain himself? Or the one who prevents another from doing so?"

Nasrudin smiled and said: "well, all of those are important, but I know of a task that is much more difficult than all the ones you mentioned!"

"And what is that Mulla?"

"Teaching others to see things as they truly are!"

As past readers, you know that all of the articles on the stonyhill.com web site, and the goal of the Stonyhill Newsletter, are all designed to help people see things as they truly are; to intentionally pay attention to the energy they are manifesting in the world and thereby grow in self-awareness; the only path to attaining authentic spiritual growth.

All of us have made problematic choices and decisions in life that have led us into worlds that we could never have imagined visiting. I recently made one of those choices and now it's time to pay attention to the consequences of that choice. After years of writing articles on the importance of maturing and healing the wounded primitive ego of our inner-child, I decided it was time to write a book on the subject.

I chose the title Primitive Ego Psychology - Our Life Journey Toward Wholeness, Healing, Happiness, and Authentic Spiritual Growth. And that was about the point in the writing process where my inner-child decided that writing a book was simply too much work…... "it's time to take a break and go on vacation", "it will never be published anyway", "even if it is, nobody will want to read it", ………...

The simple reality is "it is a lot of work". Getting organized to write a book is much more challenging than simply writing a short article. And the possibility of not getting published is high. To say that I began feeling a bit overwhelmed is definitely an understatement. I would much prefer to have gone fishing or spent time practicing the octave mandolin, but unfortunately, after thirty years of analytic training and experience as a therapist developing and using the insights of primitive ego theory in my practice, writing a book on the subject had become something that a determined and somewhat tenacious part of me just has to do. So I rolled my sleeves and got to work.

It wasn't long before I came to the realization that spending (think wasting) time getting "organized" to "start writing" is a lot easier than actually writing. I quickly learned the importance of discipline and started putting more realistic limits on how much research I really needed to do. As I began the shift from research to writing however, I soon discovered that writing a book while publishing an e-Newsletter on primitive ego consciousness and authentic spiritual growth every two weeks while traveling around the country and volunteer hosting in various State Parks is not a very healthy or sustainable life style. Something had to give.

Since both projects are important to me, I decided it would make sense to combine them. So instead of writing a separate article for the Stonyhill Newsletter every two weeks, articles that my wife often reminds me tend to get overly long and involved for an e-newsletter because I try to include too much detailed information about primitive ego theory in them, I will simply draw on some of the material I am currently working on for the book and use it as a short Newsletter article every other week. It will not only reduce my writing work load, it will also give readers of the Stonyhill Newsletter an on-going inside look at the book as it I write it……..an opportunity to look over my shoulder as the book unfolds.

It's my hope that more closely linking the newsletter and the book will offer Newsletter subscribers increased clarity on

a) the importance of primitive ego theory,

b) the urgent need for increased evolutionary growth of both our individual and collective consciousness,

c) enabling the evolutionary goal of authentic spiritual growth through increased self-awareness,

d) healing the developmental wounds of the unconscious inner-child,

e) insights regarding the residue collected in our unconscious shadow,

f) how we create a false self,

g) the ability to fully embrace the deep wisdom that we have always possessed,

h) the ability to forgive ourselves and others,

i) the ability to manifest true unconditional love and compassion,

j) the ability to do no harm to ourselves, to others, or the earth we live on, and most importantly,

k) learning the skills required to live happy and productive lives.

As we develop the ability to pay increasing attention to the energy we manifest in the world we are bound to discover that some of our energy is great……. and some of it will need significantly more work and attention. It will be a bit humbling at times, but that is how we grow and evolve……. :-))

The decision to write a book on the evolution of our species consciousness and authentic spiritual growth has required that I do a better job of illustrating my thoughts and ideas on the evolution and maturation of our primitive ego consciousness. So I plan to increase the use of stories and illustrate the Newsletter articles with developmental models and psychological insights developed for workshops and seminars offered at Stonyhill over the last two decades on the subjects of Happiness and Creative Relationships.

Growth toward an enlightened consciousness and unconditional compassion is a journey toward authenticity that is best shared in community and unfolds one step at a time.

If you're confused or don't understand what I'm writing about, it is almost certain that others are struggling with the same material. So don't hesitate to give me feedback…...positive or negative. I look forward to your continued comments and suggestions as the book progresses knowing that your feedback will ultimately help me write a better book.

It's my sincere hope that our journey together over the coming months is helpful and enables you better master some of the inner-child insights and skills required to manifest true unconditional compassion and achieve a more authentic life of true happiness.

Recommended Books For Healing and Spiritual Growth

At the request of many Newsletter readers over the last year, I am going to begin listing one book in each issue of the Newsletter that I have read over the years to develop the ideas and insights I now refer to as Primitive Ego Psychology. The books will focus on the concepts of authentic spiritual growth, growth in self-awareness, and the skills required to manifest true unconditional love and compassion. I will present only titles that I believe are above average books on these subjects.

Each of these books will have a link that takes you directly to a store where you can purchase the the book. If you decide to purchase the book for your own library, I would appreciate it if you could use the "purchase" link provided so Stonyhill gets the small commission paid for the referral. The commission will help to cover some of the expenses involved in maintaining the Stonyhill website and the Stonyhill Newsletter. Your support will be greatly appreciated!

This weeks book is titled

The Vortex: Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships by New York Times best selling authors Esther and Jerry Hicks. I have included this book in the bibliography because it is rich in spiritual truths that are part of Primitive Ego Psychology and the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development.

The book uses a somewhat "new age" spiritual language that I would not normally be drawn to, but the content is excellent and right on target for readers who are looking for specific spiritual insights similar to those found in my writing on Primitive Ego Psychology. It's a book that I believe would be helpful in your own awakening, spiritual growth and inner-child healing. Hope you enjoy it.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Forgiving The Primitive Ego of Our Inner-Child

The primitive ego of our inner-child is the unconscious psyche of childhood stuck or frozen by shame in the trauma and wounds of childhood. When we have adult life experiences that are similar to the pain we experienced in childhood (for example, not being listened to) we often regress back into our primitive ego and experience, once again, the painful childhood emotions. Because the emotions of childhood tend to be VERY LARGE, it's not uncommon for us to overreact to the adult situation that triggered the regression. I call this a "knee jerk" in my upcoming book. When this happens, we often feel embarrassed and ashamed of our behaviors.

We may have created a "nice person" false self (mask) to hide the childhood feelings (our shadow material) but like ping pong balls being held under water, they pop to the surface when we least expect them. Not only do we blame ourselves for the original trauma (people ignoring us), now we blame ourselves for all the times we have shamed ourselves as adults when the LARGE emotions of childhood unconsciously "knee jerked" or "popped" to the surface. This happens because we are unconsciously attempting to externalize the shame we feel inside. As humans, we tend to create in the outer world what we are unconsciously feeling in the inner world.

When we love ourselves enough to forgive ourselves we will have the energy to begin healing the wounds that we have been carrying.....to take the energy out of the ping pong balls. We didn't create the wounds of childhood.....our caregivers did. All we were trying to do back then was survive......to bury the shame we felt when we thought we were not lovable (if we were, people WOULD have listened to us). Then we went to work creating a false self (mask) so we could hide our flawed real self. That way we could pretend to be the person we thought our caregivers would be able to love. Over time, we began to believe that our false self, our mask, was the "real me". Hiding our true self behind the false self mask we created in childhood, it's no wonder our sense of "who we are" so often feels cut off, lonely, and isolated.....our true self is!

When we learn to embrace our inner-child we find that forgiving the child inside is very easy. When we learn to embrace our own inner-child, we will find the capacity to forgive our parents who were struggling with their own wounded inner-child. We are all just human beings on an evolutionary journey toward compassion and enlightenment. Dick Rauscher (www.stonyhill.com)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Some basic thoughts on "inner-child" psychology

Here are a few thoughts on "inner-child" psychology before I go out and pick up trash here in the Rooster Rock State Park. We're volunteer hosts so part of our job here is getting the park ready for the weekend rush.

I am pulling my thoughts together on inner-child in preparation for the early chapters of the book I'm writing on Primitive Ego Psychology: Healing The Primitive Ego of Our Wounded Inner Child. I'm not sure that will be the final title, but it will be close.

Ok, got to run....here's what I'm working on today for the book.....

"When our basic developmental needs are not met in early childhood...eg. unconditional love, listening, affirmation...we assume there is something basically wrong with us. We personalize it and feel ashamed that we are not good enough. We hide our true self and create a false self...the self we think we "should" be. The result is our wounded inner-child experiences sadness, isolation and loneliness." (www.stonyhill.com)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

The Spirituality of Rivers© Dick Rauscher -Issue #35

ABSTRACT
Learning to pay attention to reality is a fundamental skill if our goal is to become more enlightened....to live our lives out of our self-observing ego rather than our wounded, unconscious primitive ego. This article shares a well known Buddhist teaching story about learning to live with whatever life brings to you. When we fight reality, we create unnecessary pain and suffering for ourselves.

Have you ever wondered why many of the great books of literature such as Siddartha and Huck Finn are stories about rivers? Or why most of the great cities of the world are situated next to rivers? Have you noticed that the price of a house with a stream running through the property is always more expensive than a house without a stream? Why is that? Are rivers that mystical? Do they manifest a spiritual force that draws our souls to them? Some people think so.

I first became aware of the spiritual power of rivers while traveling through our western states. As I began to explore the wonders of the great State and National parks, the amazing vistas of the Rocky Mountain ranges, the beauty of the deserts, it wasn't long before my awareness of rivers began to grow. I became aware of how much of the history of our country is oriented around rivers. For example, most of the great wagon trains started west from St. Louis on the Mississippi, the Oregon Trail meandered along the Virgin River, and most of the adventures and journals of Lewis and Clark were stories about rivers.

The more I traveled, the more I tended to orient myself relative to the rivers around me…..such as the Colorado River, the Snake River, or the Virgin River. I began to pay attention to whether the near-by rivers were north or south or west of my current position. I searched the maps to see where they began and where they ended. I learned about the history and geology of rivers such as the Columbia and read about the great ice age floods that put walls of ice and water a thousand feet high through the Columbia River Gorge an estimated ten to twelve times. I was amazed to learn that the most recent giant flood happened only 10,000 years ago. They say the water was not only a thousand feet high, it traveled over 80 to 100 miles an hour through the Gorge! The magic and spirituality of rivers were slowly easing their way into my soul.

Traveling through Salt Lake City recently, I learned how, 15,000 years ago, Bonneville Lake, a deep prehistoric pluvial lake the size of Lake Michigan that covered much of North America's Great Basin region, suddenly broke thru its earthen dam draining it within a few days into the Snake River. Like the great floods of the ice age, the resulting flood of Bonneville Lake also ended up in the Columbia River Gorge. I couldn't help but wonder how high those flood waters might have been as they too raced through the Gorge………. what would it have been like to stand on the cliffs overlooking the Gorge as the thundering floods raced by below………...

As a volunteer host for a summer at Oregon's Rooster Rock State Park in the scenic Columbia River Gorge I recently had the opportunity to spend time each morning at dawn watching the sun come up over the river. Sunrise in the Gorge was spectacular. As I watched the sun burn the mist off the river each day I would reflect on the well known Buddhist story about the ancient spiritual master who meditated each day on the edge of such a river. One day he was approached by a student who asked him how meditating on the bank of a river could lead to enlightenment.

The master smiled and told the student that sitting on the bank of a river is the same as paying attention to one's life. Like a river, life simply flows. It can bring us pleasure but if we try to grasp or hang onto the pleasure too hard we will cause ourselves suffering, because like a river, life will eventually take the pleasure away.

Sometimes life will bring things that cause us pain and suffering. If we try to deny them or try to push them away from us, we will only cause ourselves more suffering because we have virtually no power to control what rivers or life choose bring to us.. But, just as it did with pleasure, life will eventually take pain and suffering away too.

Sitting with the master on the bank of a river taught the student that both grasping and aversion will ultimately lead to suffering. Life brings all things into our lives and it takes all things away. That is a reality that we cannot avoid. All we can do is sit with what the river of life brings us, and learn the lessons that we are meant to learn. After some time had passed, the student bowed to the teacher and continued on his journey toward enlightenment.

Each morning that summer, I watched things floating on the river…..barges, leaves, logs, bugs, dead fish, row boats with determined fishermen. I watched them come toward me…...I watched them float on by. It quietly reminded me not to grasp too tightly to those things that bring pleasure, or push too hard against those things that bring pain and suffering. Like the river, life will eventually take them all away. In the meantime, they all have lessons to teach me.

I don't know if I left the river that summer any more enlightened than when I arrived, but I did find that sitting by the river for a few minutes each morning lightened my day. When it was time to move on, I was aware that my soul would miss watching a new day begin each morning on the river.

GOALS OF THE STONYHILL NEWSLETTER

We live in a world filled with conflict and violence. Almost everyone agrees that something has to change. There is an urgent and growing need to develop a more compassionate global spirituality..

At Stonyhill, we believe it makes no sense to profess the values and morality of peace and compassion while continuing to manifest the primitive ego's paradigm of vertical power called survival of the fittest; a paradigm of power-over others, control, and violence.

We must learn how the unconscious judgments of the primitive ego bring the seeds of conflict, and a sense of "otherness" into the world. If our personal goal is to do no harm to others or the world, then our thinking must consciously evolve so-as-to become more conscious and self-aware of the ways we unconsciously create pain and suffering for others.

There is an old adage that says "we become what we think about". If our goal is to achieve authentic spiritual growth we must not only think about it, we must also be willing to intentionally grow in self-awareness. Authentic spiritual growth is directly proportional to growth in self-awareness; they are identical goals.

Traditional mainline religions are based on primitive pre-modern and violent tribal metaphors written during a time when our human consciousness was still very primitive. Until our mainline religions remove the violence contained in their scriptures and come to understand that most of the wisdom in their scriptures is metaphoric and should not be interpreted literally, they will be unable to offer the moral and ethical framework needed to create effective global solutions to the challenges facing us in the 21st century.

Rigid black and white beliefs are incapable of creating unconditional love or a compassionate human culture.

A compassionate global spirituality is no longer just an interesting philosophic idea; the future of the human species may very well depend upon our ability to create it. The danger that we could destroy ourselves as a species has never been greater. The Stonyhill Newsletter is dedicated to the belief that the creation of a compassionate global community is the most important goal of human consciousness in the 21st century. We will evolve as humans only as we become more self-aware and intentionally increase our ability to love unconditionally.

The Stonyhill Newsletter explores the insights and spiritual practices required to a) achieve the authentic spiritual growth that comes from deep self-awareness, b) understand the limited consciousness of the primitive ego that resides in each of us, and c) support the intentional evolution of our species consciousness.

It is written for counselors, therapists, clergy, and individuals interested in authentic spiritual growth and the formation of a compassionate, non-violent global community; a global community that openly embraces the radical inclusiveness and diversity of a truly enlightened middlepath spirituality.

Namaste
Dick Rauscher

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

This issue, and past Issues, of the Stonyhill Newsletter can also be read on the Stonyhill Newsletter Blog site at http://rausch3333.squarespace.com/journal/

The Stonyhill Newsletter is written and published by Dick Rauscher, M.Div.., Fellow AAPC. For past issues of the Stonyhill newsletter and other in depth articles on authentic spiritual growth and the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development© written by Dick Rauscher go to www.stonyhill.com
All rights reserved.
Copyright 2007

There are many article on spiritual growth, the middlepath and the primitive ego on the Stonyhill web site at www.stonyhill.com. If you would like to read an in-depth article on The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development© and the relationship between authentic spiritual growth and the growth in self-awareness that comes as we better understand the primitive ego that dwells inside each of us, you can go to article #26 on the web site or just click on this link: http://www.stonyhill.com/pdf/27_awakening_spiritual_growth.pdf

Visit the STONYHILL INSTITUTE website at http://www.stonyhill.com/articles.htm for additional articles on the integration of spirituality and psychotherapy.

QUOTES

In memory of Thomas Berry who died this last week…...

"The universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects"..........."We need a spirituality that emerges out of a reality deeper than ourselves, even deeper than life, a spirituality that is as deep as the earth process itself, a spirituality born out of the solar system and even out of the heavens beyond the solar system. There in the stars is where the primordial elements take shape in both their physical and psychic aspects. There is a certain triviality in any spiritual discipline that does not experience itself as supported by the spiritual as well as the physical dynamics of the entire cosmic-earth process.. A spirituality is a mode of being in which not only the divine and the human commune with each other, but we discover ourselves in the universe and the universe discovers itself in us."
By Thomas Berry (1914-2009), The Spirituality of the Earth (1990)

The Denial of Reality Inherent In Primitive Ego Thinking: The Challenges That Are Coming - Part 3: Conclusion of Article and Indexes © Dick Rauscher -

In Parts 1 and 2 of this three part article we explored,

* global warming,
* the myth of unlimited economic expansion,
* the impact of our Western culture's voracious appetite for "stuff",
* our current uncontrolled global population growth, and
* growing global poverty;

……………..five of the global challenges and changes that will soon have a major impact on both our global human culture, and the way each of us live our day-to-day lives.

As we explored these rapidly developing global challenges, it became evident that both our individual primitive ego, and our collective primitive ego, use denial to avoid dealing with threats to our species survival, or our personal way of life, that appear to be more than five or ten years away.

Our collective primitive ego's unconscious choice to use avoidance and denial, and our overall unwillingness as a species to intentionally mature or evolve our consciousness, are two primary obstacles preventing us from creating effective solutions to the problems and changes that will soon be knocking on our door.

Because they are not yet experienced as impacting us personally and directly, the primitive ego of our inner child is essentially unable to consciously address these impending threats to our way of life. As a result, when these threats do finally arrive, they could have a significantly greater life-altering impact on our daily lives than would otherwise be necessary. Some of these realities could potentially threaten our survival as a species.

We have clearly reached a point in the evolution of our species where our primitive ego consciousness must be intentionally matured and transformed into a more enlightened observing ego consciousness. The future of our human civilization may well depend on our willingness and ability to evolve our species consciousness and develop deeper insights into these more subtle areas of human consciousness.

Our modern scientific knowledge has clearly outpaced our moral and ethical knowledge. We have the knowledge to destroy ourselves but we have not yet learned how to live together peacefully. Our ability to accomplish this important next step in the evolution of our species psyche is rapidly becoming critically important.

If we could become more conscious and self-aware of the energy we are manifesting and projecting into the world we would find ourselves less frightened by the unknown, more able to creatively engage the challenges that are an integral part of life, and most importantly, we would have the ability to manifest a more authentic and matured spirituality; the ability to live more gently with the natural laws of nature and creation….especially those of the earth mother that birthed us.

Part 3: Concluding Thoughts - The Connection Between Human Evolution and The Challenges That Threaten Us.
The purpose of this three part article was not to provide a doomsday discussion on the rapidly approaching crises and changes that will soon be challenging our global culture. It was written to illustrate the significant dangers inherent in all primitive ego thinking; especially our collective primitive ego's pervasive use of denial to avoid unpleasant realities.

In this article I have attempted to illustrate the sobering reality that not only has our narcissistic primitive ego thinking created most of these problems, our collective primitive ego consciousness is now rapidly turning each of these impending problems into a series of potential global crises' by using denial to prevent us from working on, and implementing creative solutions that could begin to reverse the impact that these problems are going to cause.

Like all Stonyhill Newsletter articles, it was written to encourage growth in self-awareness, provide us the tools to evolve both our individual and collective consciousness, and encourage all of us to more intentionally take control of the evolutionary future of our species.

If the wisdom of Primitive Ego Psychology could become a self-conscious part of the adult human psyche, the ability of our species to create a truly compassionate global culture would increase dramatically. The most effective way to accomplish this next step in the evolutionary growth of human consciousness would be to begin teaching the insights and concepts of Primitive Ego Psychology to children very early in their grammar school education. We could radically increase the consciousness of our species in a few generations.

The Future Of Human Evolution: The Intentional Enlightenment Of Human Consciousness
For over 14 billion years the evolution of our human species was driven by chance and a glacially slow random biological process. But with the birth of reflexive consciousness roughly thirty five to fifty thousand years ago, humans became consciously aware of their self-awareness, and the evolutionary growth of our species shifted from simple biology to growth in our ability to think. The evolutionary growth of the human species had suddenly shifted into high gear. No longer limited to simply biology, our evolutionary future would now be determined primarily by the willingness of our species to consciously evolve and intentionally enlighten the collective overall level of our species consciousness.

Reflexive consciousness also gave us the God-like ability to create form; to become co-Creators with the Initiating Consciousness of our universe. Over time we learned to create forms called tools, fire, the wheel, bridges, science, philosophy, human culture, and even the moral forms of good and evil. Unfortunately the creation of good and evil could be accomplished using both conscious and unconscious thoughts.

Primitive Ego Psychology and other advancements in the science of human social and spiritual development have taught us that the forms we create using our primitive ego thinking process are usually unconscious and often hurtful to others. When our behaviors come from our more enlightened observing ego consciousness the forms we create tend to be more conscious and compassionate. The "intentional" evolution of our species conscious is the next step upward in the evolution of human consciousness. Some refer to it as the "conscious evolution" of our species.

The Transformation of Primitive Ego Survival of The Fittest Thinking To The Conscious Evolution Of Our Species
Since most of our thinking energy and attention over the last thirty five thousand years has been directed toward the art of warfare and the scientific advancements that war encourages, we have created an almost exponential increase in scientific knowledge and technology; technological advances that give us the ability to heal and reach new heights of human civilization…….. and the power to destroy ourselves.

Primitive Ego survival of the fittest thinking has brought us a long way, but in the last few decades it has become clear that our scientific growth has far outpaced our growth in morality and ethics. We have evolved our scientific knowledge, but the wisdom to ethically use this scientific knowledge for the benefit of all living creatures has not yet intentionally entered our species consciousness.

Not only are most humans undernourished and living in poverty, not only are we causing the extinction of thousands of species each year, we are rapidly running out of time to evolve beyond the narcissistic consciousness of our inner child's primitive ego and develop the wisdom needed to protect our own species from extinction.

We may live in a world where we can travel to the moon, build computers that are beginning to surpass even the human minds ability to think, and generate electricity from nuclear reactors, yet our collective narcissistic primitive ego consciousness still has half of humanity confined to living in stone age cultures cooking food over open fires.

Only our more enlightened observing ego consciousness is capable of guiding the future "conscious evolution" of our species. Our primitive ego's are far too narcissistic and emotionally immature to do this work.

Reality Is Change: All Living Systems Are Faced With Threats To Their Species Survival
Problems are not unique to our human species and the global problems we are facing today do not need to threaten our future. All living systems are routinely required to creatively cope with threats to their long term survival. All species experience stress when their ability to survive is challenged. They use stress to search for solutions to overcome the problems that threaten them.

In other words, they use stress to adapt to the challenges and changes they are confronted with by the real world. They do not hide behind primitive ego beliefs and ideologies, and they certainly do not use primitive ego denial to avoid the stress that would enable them to find creative solutions to the challenges and crises that threaten the survival of their species.

No living species evolves without challenges. This includes our human species. Life is never perfect. There are always crises to be overcome, dangers to be faced, hardships to be endured, and uncertainties to be embraced. However, the species that survive and evolve always manifest two very important characteristics; they embrace the stress inherent to all living systems, and they are flexible in the face of crises: they are able to embrace change.

Stated simply, living systems use the stress created by challenges to their survival to enable and encourage the evolutionary process. For most living systems it may be a very slow biological process, but they do act, and they do evolve.

Without the stress that survival challenges bring to all living species, the probability that a species will evolve is very small. For example, sharks and cockroaches have been around for tens of millions of years because their ability to survive as a species has not been challenged. They have never had to deal with the stress of species extinction that causes a threatened species to evolve.

Our human species is now at a cross road in its ability to evolve; to survive. We can remain trapped in the denial of primitive ego thinking pretending that life is actually the way we would "like" things to be, or we can find the courage to deal with reality and the stressful challenges that are "actually" beginning to threaten our survival as a species and the future of human civilization on this planet.

I am convinced that we are flexible and intelligent enough as a species to deal with the changes that are coming, but only if a) we willing to break out of the limited primitive ego thinking we are currently using, b) we are willing to intentionally increase our psychological intelligence through the conscious evolution of our primitive ego, and c) if we are willing to openly embrace a more enlightened species consciousness; a willingness to become more human.

Summary: We Each Have The Ability To Create Our Future
In the Personal Thoughts section of the Newsletter I have included a list of suggestions that each of us could begin to embrace and incorporate into our lives to prepare for the changes that I believe are coming. The more prepared we are, the less we will find ourselves "shocked by the changes that we know are coming".

When we intentionally take steps to empower ourselves, by learning about our own primitive ego, and by embracing the reality of "what is" so-as-to begin assertively preparing for the changes that are coming as opposed to simply hoping that the world will somehow function the way we would "like it to function", the less we will experience feelings of powerlessness and unhappiness.

Individuals and species that survive and evolve always deal with the reality of "what is", with high levels of flexibility, and an open acceptance of change. The Navajo's called this "huzho"….. the ability to be "one" with "what is". When faced with drought for example, rather than pray and drum for rain, the Navajo would dance and pray to become "one" with the drought. They survived when others perished. They embraced the realities that faced them. They knew that ignoring or denying the reality of the real world was a sure and certain path to disaster.

We may live in the modern world, but we would do well to challenge the denial inherent in primitive ego thinking and begin to embrace the concept of huzho.

See Index {A} For A List Of The Global Challenges And Changes I See Approaching On The Horizon

See Index {B} For A List Of The More Important Limitations Of Our Inner Child's Primitive Ego Thinking Process

See Index {C} For A List Of How Each of Us, As Reflexive Co-Creators of Form, Can Begin To Consciously Prepare Ourselves For The Changes That Are Coming

(The Stonyhill Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development (PET) was developed to offer not only a simple coherent theory for the development and evolution of human consciousness, but to also provide the psychological tools and insights needed so-as-to enable the infusion of "intentionality" in the future growth and evolution of our species consciousness.

PET is a developmental theory of the human ego that could be offered in our public school systems to teach the skills and insights required for growth in psychological intelligence (PQ) and the intentional maturation of our species consciousness, or to those interested in the authentic spiritual growth that comes through growth in one's self-awareness.

Readers can go to www.stonyhill.com for in-depth articles and past Newsletter discussions on the subjects of our inner-child's primitive ego, awakening, happiness, compassion, authentic spiritual growth, and The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development.)

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

The purpose of this three part Newsletter article was my attempt to help readers focus on the dangers of unconscious primitive ego thinking. It is my hope that it has helped readers become more conscious of how unconsciously all of us use denial to avoid the uncomfortable realities that are threatening to impact our human culture.

I hope that if readers take only one thing away from this article, it is the fact that we are not powerless. If we are willing to consciously internalize the real changes that are coming, we each have the ability to intentionally and consciously empower ourselves to creatively deal with them. There is no need to be "shocked when the changes we know are coming actually arrive".

Once we understand the limitations inherent in primitive ego thinking and have consciously accepted the fact that our world is about to undergo significant change, most of us will be asking ourselves what can I do to prepare? What changes can I make that are reasonable?

Some of the suggestions below are philosophical, some are practical. Some need to begin right away, others reflect changes that could be made over a longer period of time. They all however require a more conscious and enlightened understanding of the world.

I make no claim that this list is inclusive. I have no doubt that readers will come up with their own thoughts as to how they could begin to prepare themselves and their families. If you have other ideas on how we might begin to empower ourselves, please send them along to me and I will publish an addendum to this list reflecting your suggestions in a future issue of the Newsletter. Awakening our consciousness is best accomplished in community with others. It is very difficult to awaken alone.

See Index {C} For A List Of How Each of Us, As Reflexive Co-Creators of Form, Can Begin To Consciously Prepare Ourselves For The Changes That Are Coming

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

A good place to begin a journey to deepen our self-awareness would be to go back to the article and read through the list in Index B called "The Primitive Ego Thinking Process Is Reflected In:" and see if we can identify two or three primitive ego behaviors that we unconsciously use in our relationships with others. Once we have identified a few, simply begin to pay attention to them whenever we catch ourself using them and ask ourselves the following questions……...

What is my inner child trying to protect me from?
Is it helpful, or would I rather use a less emotional, more adult approach?
What might that new more enlightened, adult approach look like?
If I get angry easily, what is making the primitive ego of my inner-child fearful?

The majority of these statistics came from Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N.'S Nobel Prize winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.(Http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,1839995,00.html)

QUOTES

All the world's a stage, and most of us are desperately unrehearsed.
By playwright Sean O'Casey

Being defeated is only a temporary condition;
giving up is what makes it permanent.
Marilyn vos Savant

The first step toward change is acceptance.
Once you accept yourself, you open the door to change.
That's all you have to do.
Change is not something you do, it's something you allow.
Will Garcia

Before you begin a thing remind yourself that difficulties and delays quite impossible to foresee are ahead. You can only see one thing clearly, and that is your goal. Form a mental vision of that and cling to it through thick and thin.
Kathleen Norris

Index A): A List Of The Global Challenges And Changes I See Approaching On The Horizon
The following is a summary of what I believe will be some of the critical challenges that we will soon be facing as a human culture. I have no doubt that there are other challenges coming that I have not included so feel free to add to the list.

The important thing to remember is that none of these challenges can be effectively solved using only our primitive ego consciousness. They will require a far greater flexibility, a willingness to deal with "what is" rather than "what we would like things to be", and the courage to change despite the uncertainties that many of these challenges present.

The dangers of religious, political, and cultural tribalism (we are no longer defined in tribal language, we must quickly learn to let go of tribal ideologies(religious, political, and economic) and embrace the reality that we have become a global species)
Theism: the dangers inherent in mainline religions antiquated tribal definition of God (see Issue #31 of the Stonyhill Newsletter)
Master narratives and tribal ideologies (religious, political, and economic) that displace truth
Our blind acceptance of the myth called unlimited economic expansion (see article above)
Global over population (see article above)
Our blind dependence on fossil fuels
The danger of world poverty (many empires have fallen when its people faced hunger)
The depletion and redistribution of the earth's natural resources(our planetary life support system is showing signs of stress and malfunction)
Global warming ( many scientists are now warning that our previous models are no longer accurate and that the changes are coming more rapidly than previously predicted.)
Food shortages (billions of people are suffering with hunger and poverty…many are children) (see article above)
Lack of access to adequate health care (people living in poverty, roughly ¾ of the worlds population, do not have access to modern health care) (see article above) According to United Nations figures, the lack of effective family planning in poverty areas of the world result in population growth of 70 million to 80 million unwanted pregnancies annually, 19 million abortions and an estimate 150,000 maternal deaths. Women burdened with the care of these unwanted children are trapped in poverty. The men often abandon these women when faced with providing for all of their unwanted children. Population growth and poverty are mutually supportive and self-sustaining.
Global financial systems are currently driven by greed and the illusion of wealth
Availability to access fresh water for drinking and for irrigation.
Species extinction of land and ocean based life forms (we are currently in the middle of the greatest species extinction the planet has every seen….virtually all extinctions are the result of environmental changes created by human culture)
The rapidly growing digital information and collective intelligence that computers are beginning to compile regarding our personal lives (for example most automotive dealers can obtain bank financing for you, get the vehicle insured, close out your trade in vehicle with the bank that currently holds your mortgage and the insurance company that insured it, and issue a new title and a registration from the Department of Motor Vehicles at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night with nothing but your social security number!!)
Energy storage: our batteries and hydrogen cell technology is not yet sophisticated enough or capable of storing power generated by solar, wind, and ocean waves to supply the power needed to operate an electric car or provide stored power adequate to run the average home
The myth of rugged individualism vs. the power of community: most new creative advances happen by teams of people not individuals alone, no one group or individual possess absolute truth….the world is gray and every issue is defined by shade of gray (middlepath thinking), and we will survive not as individuals, but through the evolution and spiritual growth of our species as a whole.
Humanities tendency to see earth as an object, rather than a living, evolving life support system for all life on the planet.
Lack of systemic thinking and our current throw away mentality ( see article above)
Radical sustainability and accepting the real cost of everything we manufacture and purchase must quickly become fundamental realities in every decision we make as individuals and as a species.

And finally here are some additional predictions of specific changes that are almost certainly coming:

The cost of fuel is going to reach $5 to $8 dollars a gallon within the next five to seven years (the era of inexpensive petroleum based energy is coming to an end (we are running out of cheap oil, India and China will begin to drive prices up as their economies come on line, Europe has been paying $5 to $8 dollars a gallon for years, and many of the exporting countries will need their oil production to power their own internal economies);
Property tax assessments are going to see significant increases in the next three to five years as local and state governments struggle to balance their budgets;
The price of food and other day to day household items are going to rise significantly due to probable double digit inflation in the next couple of years;
The costs of manufactured items are going to increase dramatically in the next ten to fifteen years as we begin to include the real costs of producing those manufactured item (increasingly costs for green manufacturing, the cost of recycling and green disposal, a carbon tax to deal with air pollution);
Given the amount of money that the governments of the world are throwing at the current economic crisis it is fairly certain that our financial markets will recover over the next few years as everyone goes back to business as usual, but when the expected inflation hits and the myth of unlimited economic expansion begins to unravel, stock market investors can be pretty certain to see the appreciation of their investments begin to slow down or even drop to reflect more realistic forward looking returns as the economy begin to reflect the new 21st century realities we are talking about;
The price and availability of commodities such as copper, zinc, antimony, steel, titanium, lead, gold, tin, silver, indium,potash, magnesium, and other natural resources are going to change dramatically as China, India, and other developing countries begin to consume ever increasing amounts of these natural resources. Prices are going to increase as the availability decreases. The demand for these commodities is already exceeding our global ability to provide them.

It is impossible to forecast exactly when any of the challenges and crises listed above are actually going to arrive, but they are coming, and when they do they are going to significantly impact life as we know it. It is reasonable to assume that the majority of these changes will begin to exert significant impact on our way of life within the next 10 to 15 years; some will arrive much sooner. In the Personal Thoughts section of the Newsletter I have included some ideas on how we might begin to prepare so as to minimize the impact these coming events will have on our lives.

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Index (B): A List Of The More Important Limitations Of Our Inner Child's Primitive Ego Thinking Process
Here is a partial list of some of the more critical limitations of our inner child's primitive ego thinking process that needs to be replaced by more psychologically intelligent, enlightened, and observing consciousness thinking. As we become more intentionally aware of our knee jerk tendency to use primitive ego thinking, we will find ourselves intuitively moving toward the manifestation of a more enlightened social behavior. Once you know that there is a primitive ego controlling the way you relate to the world, change will begin.

It is important to remember that the primitive ego of your inner child is not bad…..it is simply the ego of a child. It is not reasonable to ask a child of 6 or 7 years of age to run your adult life. No child of that age has the life experience or understanding of the adult world to make effective choices.

Almost always, our inner child is simply using childhood survival skills to try to keep us safe from such things as perceived danger, criticism, abandonment, being ignored, not heard, and shame. We need to thank them for attempting to take care of us, but we also need to encourage them to let our more adult consciousness find a more enlightened and mature way of handling things.

The Primitive Ego Thinking Process Is Reflected In:

Our tendency toward splitting; using lack and white, all or nothing thinking
Belief that happiness comes from the world, not internally
Lack of introspection and self-awareness
Often very emotionally reactive in relationships with others
Tendency to take things personally
Survival of the fittest, vertical power, power over others, the need to be in control
Temper tantrum when needs are not met
Sense of entitlement
Perfectionism
Perceives others as objects
Is only able to offer conditional love to others
Sees world through the eyes of one's inner-child, emotionally stuck in the past
Unintegrated split off parts of self
Our tendency to blame others for our feelings; the inability to own our own feelings
Our high level of self-focused narcissism; our lack of empathy, mutuality, and compassion
Our "me first" mentality, our tendency to use vertical power, survival of the fittest thinking
The belief that happiness and evil comes from the world; inability to see that both evil and love come from our own hearts
Our inability to delay satisfaction; to look beyond immediate needs and pleasures
Our belief that all of our beliefs represent absolute truth; our need to be right and in control
Our aggressive behavior when any of the above are challenged by others
Our inability to be self-reflective; to intentionally work on becoming more self-aware
Our tribal belief that "others" should not be trusted; us vs. them judgmentalism of others
Our inability to let go of the past and live in the moment with the reality of "what is"
Our inability to listen to others; especially when we disagree with them
Blind obedience to authority figures; eg. the belief that the bible is the literal word of God and should be obeyed without question; the belief that autonomy is unsafe and leads to punishment
Use denial to avoid uncomfortable realities unless we are being directly and personally impacted in the here and now.
Our tendency to deny reality or "what is", and embrace the hopeful illusion that the world will somehow actually function the way we would "like it to function".
The inability to recognize that no one can make us feel anything that isn't already inside of us.
Our impatience; our insistence on "getting what we want, when we want it"
Our need to aggressively protect us and keep us safe from perceived threats to our well-being. Our primitive ego continually scans the world for threats. It sees "others" as potentially dangerous. It easily become very suspicious and fearful of anyone who is different. Given the reality that we see what we expect to see, it means that our primitive ego often sees the world as very threatening and very easily becomes frightened. When a child is frightened it often becomes aggressive and combative. Our primitive ego believes that the best way to remain safe is to reject those who are different, and to isolate ourselves from outside threats. ( Fearful, aggressive, right wing extremists are driven by primitive ego fears. They aggressively fear terrorists, homosexuals, blacks, orientals, immigrants, and those who have different tribal beliefs such as religious, economic, or political beliefs)

Index C: How Each of Us, As Reflexive Co-Creators of Form, Can Begin To Consciously Prepare Ourselves For The Changes That Are Coming

Learn to become more self-aware of the energy and behaviors we are manifesting. Especially those unconscious behaviors that are on auto-pilot or what I refer to as "knee jerk responses". Almost always these unconscious automatic behaviors are simply childhood survival skills unconsciously driven by our primitive ego. Unfortunately they often get in the way of our ability to create compassionate communities and friendships with other people; a serious problem when we realize that the changes that are coming are going to require us to work cooperatively in community with others. Teamwork and systemic thinking will make the changes and problems that are coming much easier to solve. They were created by human culture, and they will best be solved by human culture. If we try to isolate ourselves or attempt to work alone to cope with the challenges that are coming, our potential for success will be significantly reduced. The Marlboro man will quickly find himself isolated, alone, unhappy, powerless, and struggling simply to survive.
Eat less meat. Much of the methane and carbon based gases that cause global warming come the global production of beef. Experts suggest we begin by eating vegetarian one or two days a week. The reduction in global warming CO2 and methane would be significant.
Limit the use of fish being used as food for pets. This one change would go a long ways toward protecting our critically stressed global fisheries.
Start a community or coop vegetable garden. A garden coop can supply a significant amount of your annual consumption of fruits and vegetables…..and significantly reduce your exposure to harmful pesticides and herbicides.
Start a compost pile to supply your garden with fertilizer. Petroleum based fertilizers are going to become very expensive as the price of oil resumes it climb.
Grow fruit trees in your yard. Barter for vegetables that others are growing.
Live closer to work. The cost of fuel is going to continue to climb significantly over the next three to five years. The shorter your commute, the less you will be spending on car expenses and fuel. Consider riding a bike to work…..or walking. Some experts predict that fuel will undoubtedly increase to $5 to $8 per gallon in the coming years.
Eliminate Debt. The money you pay on interest to carry your debt load is a waste of valuable financial resource for you and your family. Adopt a pay as you go philosophy. Save ahead for those larger ticket items that you know are coming….car, home repair, etc.
Reduce your overhead. Down size. Most people are living in homes far larger than they need. A home requires fuel to heat, electricity to run, maintenance and repairs, property taxes, lawns to mow and maintain, etc. The larger your home, the larger your overhead. Reducing the number of cars, televisions, computers, stereos, clothes, etc can help to reduce overhead costs too. Most of us are drowning in "stuff". The larger your home, the more likely you are to have rooms full of "stuff".
Simplify your life. When you slow down you will find yourself reading more, spending more time with people you care about, eating better, exercising more, and surprisingly, needing less "stuff" in your life.
Purchase smaller, more fuel efficient cars. Many people own cars that are larger than they need. The larger they are, the more fuel they require to operate.
Begin now to replace old windows with modern insulated windows. Most of the heat energy in a home is lost through doors and windows. Increasing the R value of insulation in the walls of your home and upgrading the insulating factor in your windows and doors could save you significant money as the cost of home heating fuels and energy begin to increase. Spreading the cost of these improvements over the next five to ten years will ease the financial impact on your household budget. It is important to remember that increases in home heating fuel costs are going to keep pace with automotive fuel costs.
Reduce wants and focus on needs. This is part of simplifying. As you shift from primitive ego "wants" and begin to focus more on "needs", your life will automatically begin to slow down and simplify. Remember, the cost of "stuff" is going to continue increasing. Experts predict inflation could reach high double digit numbers in the next few years. Your financial resources are going to be under significant pressure. Saving money where you can will become very important.
Recycle. Remember the real cost of the "stuff" we purchase needs to include the cost of green manufacturing, green disposal, and green recycling…..especially the hazardous materials contained in the "stuff" we purchase. These real green costs are going to be increasingly included in the over all cost of manufactured goods in the coming years. When added to inflation, the pressure on your financial resources is going to be significant.
Fight the primitive ego tendency of using denial to avoid those things we would rather ignore. Become more conscious, self-aware, and learn to live in the real world. Learn to become more "psychologically intelligent". Our primitive egos always want "more", not less.
Replace expensive habits like going out to dinner, going to concerts, golf, skiing, music collection, etc with less expensive hobbies such as reading, hiking, learning a musical instrument, learning another language, digital photography, volunteering at your local hospital or a local non-profit agency, etc.
Limit the size of your family. Global overpopulation is a major cause of poverty and malnutrition….especially among children. Children in larger families often are denied the opportunities available to children from smaller families.
Begin aggressively saving for your retirement. Most people are poorly prepared to finance a comfortable retirement. Be sure to keep your retirement funds well diversified. It's a rare retiree that doesn't wish they had saved more for their retirement. Downsizing, simplifying your lifestyle, and eliminating debt can be very helpful tools when saving for retirement.
Develop streams of income. Many people reject small hobbies or business ventures because they can not "live" off of them. Financial planners today are emphasizing the concept called "streams of income". When you have enough streams coming together, you could eventually end up with a good sized river! A river that could take a lot of stress and pressure off of finding or maintaining a "job". This concept can be very helpful for retirees.

These are not suggestions that need to be made immediately, but the sooner you begin intentionally making these changes, the more you will find yourself prepared when the challenges and crises we talked about in the article actually arrive. Empower yourself so you are not "shocked" when the totally expected actually arrives.

The Denial of Reality Inherent In Primitive Ego Thinking: The Challenges That Are Coming - Part 2© Dick Rauscher - Issue #33 March 25, 2009

A Brief Summary from Part 1 of This Three Part Article
In Part 1 of this three-part article published in the previous Newsletter, I wrote about three growing challenges that we will soon be facing… global warming, our Western culture's unlimited appetite for "stuff", and the myth called unlimited economic expansion. I stated the growing and urgent need for each of us to increase our psychological intelligence through the intentional and conscious evolution of our primitive ego; the early childhood ego of our inner child. I reaffirmed my belief that maturing our individual and collective primitive ego is essential if we are to successfully prepare for the rapidly approaching, life altering, changes we see gathering on the horizon.

I pointed out how our primitive ego tends to ignore warnings, threats of danger, and impending change until they actually begin to impact us directly and personally; or, at a minimum, threaten to impact us in the "very" near future. As one writer commented recently, "it's amazing how shocked we can be when the totally expected actually arrives." We know we are running out of time to innovate and then implement the pro-active choices and life-style changes that will be needed to creatively cope with the impacts and changes that are we know are coming. I have no doubt that many of us will be "shocked" when they actually arrive.

However, if we choose to remain unconsciously trapped in primitive ego thinking, unable to creatively prepare for the real world and the life-style transformations that are certainly coming, it foreshadows a future for us that could become very uncomfortable; even traumatic; a future in which we could find ourselves powerless, reaching for ineffective, last minute, knee-jerk responses to cope with the challenges we will be facing.

I reaffirmed to readers that I do not believe we are facing the end of the world or a dooms day scenario. But I am convinced that many of the inevitable challenges that are headed our way will almost certainly have the potential to bring about significant environmental and social change. Some could easily threaten the very survival of our species. But regardless of the level of threat, I believe it is absolutely clear that virtually all of the challenges bearing down on us will have the potential to significantly impact the way we currently live our lives.

On the positive side, I am equally convinced that if we are willing to do the work of intentionally maturing our primitive ego consciousness, and intentionally increasing our psychological intelligence, we will have the vision and wisdom needed to consciously and creatively face these impending challenges and threats that we have created for ourselves. As Einstein reminds us, we cannot solve the problems that face us if we insist on using the same thinking process that created the problem in the first place. Fortunately, we do not have to. The willingness to grow in self-awareness and evolve our consciousness is always a choice available to us.

Understanding Primitive Ego Psychology and using the simple tools contained in the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Development we explore in each issue of this Newsletter could easily put us, individually and collectively, on a path toward the conscious evolution of our species. Making the challenges looming on the horizon subjectively "real" for us will help us avoid an emotional "shock" when the disruptive social, economic, and inevitable life-style changes actually arrive.

However it is important to remind ourselves that denying the realities that are coming and doing nothing is also an available choice….not a good one, but a choice.

End Of Brief Summary Of Part 1 Of This Three Part Article

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The Denial Of Reality In Primitive Ego Thinking: The Challenges That Are Coming–Part 2 - Denials #4 & #5: Uncontrolled Population Growth and Global Poverty

The global runaway population explosion that we are experiencing not only increases the problem of global warming, our Western culture's already voracious appetite for "stuff", and the myth of unlimited economic expansion we discussed in Part 1 of this three part article, it also:

is increasing the already critically high levels of land, water, and air pollution,

puts enormous pressure on the availability of land for both housing and farming,

puts additional pressure on the consumption of our planet's already dwindling natural resources,

is creating global food shortages,

adds to the growing global unemployment crises,

directly contributes to the growing economic strain on our global education and health care systems, and most importantly,

is a primary cause of our rapidly growing global poverty.

When the lack of status and social power created by poverty is combined with armed conflict and environmental overload, those living in poverty, including women and children, are effectively denied access to the financial and educational resources needed to obtain land and farm tools. Current estimates agree that roughly one billion people currently live on "less" than one dollar a day. It should come as no surprise that they are struggling daily with ethical and moral issues of poverty and lack of adequate nutrition.

Despite the high level of poverty and food shortages present inside many third world countries, racial and cultural discrimination, ethnic dislocation caused by political unrest over land ownership, and on-going political power struggles all combine to create conditions in which the governments of these countries routinely withhold critically needed food and medical supplies from their people. The poverty and genocide in Darfur is a good example of what happens to those caught in the middle of political conflict.

We are unarguably in the middle of an unparalleled human population explosion.

Our planet reached one billion people for the first time about 1800. We hit the two billion mark in 1930. Three billion in 1960. Four billion in 1974. Five billion in 1987. Six billion in 1998, and seven billion in 2009. It is estimated that global population figures will slow down in the coming decades, but current forecasts indicate we will be well over 11 billion within roughly three generations.

All the people who have ever lived on Earth is estimated to be roughly 106 billion. That means we are headed for a scenario where roughly 10 % of all people who have ever born on our planet will be alive and consuming space and vital resources within a few generations.

It is estimated that population growth and the impact of global warming on food production alone will create severe food shortages and malnutrition for an estimated two to three billion people by the end of this century. Given the forecasts that we will soon be facing severe fresh water shortages and the fact that 87% of all fresh water is used for agriculture some are predicting that severe food shortages will be a global problem well before the end of the century.

The collective primitive ego consciousness of the Western civilization narcissistically assumes we're doing fine so far. Most of us in the Western world are still eating pretty well, we have pretty good educational and health care systems, and most of our children are not suffering from malnutrition, so it is easy to assume we can safely leave the problems created by overpopulation for someone else to solve.

But before we get too complacent we might want to consider the following statistics.

Only about one billion people currently enjoy our Western culture's standard of living and the earth is already running out of many critically needed natural resources.

Current projections have us growing by roughly a billion people every 11 years for the next couple of generations, and in recent years 80% of this growth has come from the developing nations.

In 2005 it was estimated that almost a billion people on the planet were suffering from chronic malnutrition. This is a sobering reality when you consider that 27% of the world's population is below 15 years of age.

The sobering reality is we live on a planet where 80% of the people alive today are living at sub-human standards struggling simply to survive…..and they are beginning to want more. They are waking to the reality that day-to-day survival is not enough. They want their share of the "good life" that we enjoy in the Western cultures.

80% of the world's population is increasingly aware that Western culture represents only about 6% of the world's population but we are currently consuming roughly 1/3 of all our planets resources.

The bottom line….virtually every one of the seven billion people alive today are struggling to increase their standard of living to approach that of the Western world.

These statistics reflect some important realities for the future of "life as we know it" because soaring global population growth combined with rapidly growing levels of poverty are rapidly becoming an excellent formula for global unrest.

We are a nation building fences because we are worried about "illegal" Hispanics south of the border who want to share in the "good life" that we enjoy. Given the growing level of poverty in the world, it is becoming obvious that immigration problems are going to be the least of our worries in the coming decades.

To get some perspective on this issue, we need only to ask ourselves a couple simple questions…..

What would "we" do if we woke each day to watch our children struggling with malnutrition and a lack of clean drinking water, or dying due to lack of adequate medical care capable of treating even simple illnesses. How would we feel if our children were growing up uneducated while people in another part of the world were concerned with providing college educations for their children?

At what point would we aggressively begin to insist on change?

What would we be capable of doing as an individual or as a nation of people when we awoke to the realization that we had little or nothing to lose and everything to gain? How much force or violence would we be willing to use, or justify, to get our piece of the "good life"?

The reality that most clearly reflects the level of denial inherent in primitive ego thinking is the amazing insight that the majority of primitive egos living in our Western culture are honestly shocked and puzzled as to why the rest of the world is getting so angry with us.

Our primitive ego's ability to ignore the obvious is amazing.

We are unaware that runaway global population growth and over population is one of humanities most important growing crises. Incredibly, most of our conservative Christian churches---including the religiously conservative Bush administration that controlled Washington for the last eight years---continue to deny people access to birth control on ideological grounds; even to control the spread of AIDS.

Despite the fact that many people living in Western cultures are virtually unaware of population growth and the crises it represents, it is already impacting us even here in the United States. Anyone living on either coast of the United States, or in any major world city, already knows first hand the limited availability and rapidly rising cost of land and housing.

Our current housing crisis and economic problems are bringing prices down, but the pressure of more and more people wanting land to live and build on are driving prices to levels that only the very wealthy will be able to afford. The West Coast states of California, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona for example already reflect land and housing prices that are significantly more than most middle class workers can afford and it is doubtful that banks will ever again be allowed to create mortgages that a prospective buyer is not realistically able to repay.

When we consider the 60 -70 million baby boomers getting ready to begin down sizing and moving out of their high end homes and properties, one has to wonder where all the buyers are going to come from to purchase those expensive homes.

When the gap between a culture's wealthiest people and it's poorest people is too wide, it has the potential to create massive upheaval in the fabric of that culture. When the gap is global in nature, the potential for conflict and social crises is severe. I believe we have very little time left for our wealthy Western culture to voluntarily demonstrate our compassion and belief in equality and justice. For the poor to have more, it means we are going to have to be willing to live with less, but it is clear that reducing the enormous gap between the wealthy and the poor of the world is absolutely essential if we are to successfully create a peaceful global culture.

To Briefly Summarize
We all depend on the Earth and its resources for our survival. The earth is humanity's only life support system and it simply can no longer continue to support unlimited human expansion and consumption. For those who have the courage to look at the growing evidence, our planet's fragile life support system is already showing significant signs of malfunction.

If sustainability is the concept that must become part of every economic and environmental decision we make in our human cultures, then our current uncontrolled population growth, encouraged by primitive ego denial, is clearly not sustainable.

Despite the fact that our planet "cannot sustainably support" even one billion people at our current Western standard of living, India and China are both about to attempt increasing that number to four or five billion! The reality is simple. Our planet simply cannot support that kind of growth. But the most important question is whether we are going to redistribute our immense wealth voluntarily and peacefully or wait until 8 billion people living in poverty take it from us violently.

I am convinced that until we find ways to begin reducing the number of people living on our planet and begin to voluntarily redistribute the wealth that we enjoy in the Western world, we are going to continue our headlong rush toward severe global upheaval. At some point, it is inevitable that those living in extreme poverty, roughly 80% of the world's population, are going to run out of patience. They are not going to ask for their right to share in the benefits of a 21st century civilization, they are going to demand it as their moral right.

Because our narcissistic "me" oriented primitive ego is rarely willing to share with "others" what we subjectively feel is "ours", I am also convinced that simply waiting for our human culture to voluntarily mature and evolve our primitive ego consciousness into that of a more compassionate and spiritually mature observing ego consciousness is also unrealistic.

The primitive ego's of the wealthy are not going to voluntarily agree to higher taxes as a way of beginning to redistribute their enormous wealth to those living in poverty, and the primitive ego's of middle class Americans and Europeans are not going to voluntarily reduce their standard of living to globally sustainable levels so we can more realistically and safely digest the rapid increase in the living standard of several billion people in China and India coming within the next couple of generations.

As I said in Part 1, I am convinced that Primitive Ego Psychology and specifically the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development are mental health tools that could effectively lead our species toward the level of psychological intelligence that we so badly need to achieve. I believe that if the insights and wisdom of Primitive Ego Psychology were taught to grammar school and high school students in our public school system, we would experience a significant increase in human consciousness within one generation.

Using the primitive ego thinking process of our unconscious inner-child simply does not make sense when we take the time to understand its limitations and dangers. Once a person develops the insight and self-awareness to begin paying attention to the many embarrassing ways we manifest primitive ego thinking in our day-to-day interactions with those around us, like a snake shedding it skin, growth in consciousness would become almost effortless.

Coming In The Final Part 3 of This Series
It is better to be prepared than "shocked" when the expected arrives. In Part 3 I will wrap up this series with a) a detailed summary list of the various challenges I see looming on the horizon, b) a general summary list of the important aspects and behaviors manifested by primitive ego thinking, and finally c) a detailed list of ideas and suggestions I believe each of us could incorporate in our lives to begin preparing for the challenges and changes that are coming; to better insure that the challenges that are coming do not create unnecessary crises in our lives.

The Stonyhill Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development© (PET) was developed to offer not only a simple coherent theory for the development and evolution of human consciousness, but to also provide the psychological tools and insights needed so-as-to enable the infusion of "intentionality" in the future growth of our species consciousness.
PET is a developmental theory of the human ego that could be offered in our public school systems to teach the skills and insights required for growth in psychological intelligence (PQ©) and the intentional maturation of our species consciousness, or to those interested in the authentic spiritual growth that comes through growth in one's self-awareness.
Readers can go to www.stonyhill.com for in-depth articles and past Newsletter discussions on the subjects of our inner-child's primitive ego, awakening, happiness, compassion, authentic spiritual growth, and The Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development©.)

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Why I Publish The Stonyhill Newsletter
As we have been discussing in this three article series, I am convinced that life as we know it will soon undergo some life altering changes. These challenges are going to force us as a self-conscious species to move beyond the current adolescent narcissism of our species, intentionally manifest a more mature adult consciousness, and bring an end to our reliance on the religious, political, and economic ideologies that created the unparalleled levels of conflict, violence, suffering, and death for so many people in the 20th century.

I am convinced that most of the problems we are facing globally today, problems that are currently being blamed on the obvious greed of our various Corporate, Wall Street, and Banking executives, and the collapse of the housing bubble are the direct result of a) our runaway global population explosion, b) our blind belief in the myth that our planet can successfully support an unlimited economic growth for 8 to 10 billion people, and c) our lack of psychological intelligence that leaves us blind to the dangers of denial inherent in our inner child's primitive ego thinking process.

Our planet simply does not have the resources to "sustainably" provide a Western standard of living for the one billion people currently living in the Western culture. To assume that we can somehow provide that same standard of living for an additional nine to eleven billion people is a level of denial and ignorance we can not afford.

The myth of unlimited economic expansion is unraveling. We are facing our current economic crisis partly because of uncontrolled primitive ego corporate greed, but primarily because we are trying to meet the unlimited "wants" of too many people and ignoring the "needs" of countless billions of others.

In a nut shell, this is why I write about the dangers and narcissism of primitive ego thinking and why I feel it is so important for us to understand and intentionally evolve and mature our primitive ego consciousness into that of a more observing and humble contemplative ego. We may not be fully ready for the challenges that we have unknowingly created for ourselves, but ready or not, they will soon be upon us.

Primitive Ego Psychology and the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development could be effective tools to ensure a more enlightened conscious evolution of our human consciousness, but to be effective, they must first become basic psychological insights and tools taught in our public educational system.

Blessings for a holiday season filled with love and compassion. See you in the New Year.
Namaste
Dick Rauscher

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

We could make a significant contribution to reducing global warming if we simply cut our meat consumption by 20 %. This simple spiritual practice would protect the earth mother that birthed us and increase our enlightenment…our evolutionary spirituality….our ability to work "with" the laws of Nature and the Initial Evolutionary Impulse that created our universe rather than "against" it. As reflectively conscious beings, we are an integral force involved in shaping and creating the future of our world. Enlightenment is more than a personal goal, it is the goal of our species. Enlightenment is more than a psychological goal. It is how we act and behave; what we manifest. It is who we are.

For those of you who are looking for a spiritual practice that will make a significant difference for the world, consider the following:

It has been shown that eating too much meat is unhealthy; a primary cause of heart problems and clogged arteries.

It is expensive.

Cattle production is a major contributor of green house gases and global warming.

Cow manure releases nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that has roughly 300 times the warming effect of CO2. They pass about 200 liters of methane gas. Methane gas has 23 times the warming impact of CO2. When you consider the fact that there are 100 million beef cattle in the United States alone, these statistics begin to point to a significant cause of global warming.

It is estimated that livestock production is responsible for 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Cattle are raised on large amounts of grain which is very energy-intensive to produce.

It takes roughly ten times the grain required to produce the same number of calories from meat than it does from grain alone. In other words, it takes 10 units of grain to produce the same number of calories in meat that you would get from one unit of grain alone. Most of the world's grain production is fed to cattle, not people.

The methane gas that comes from cow manure stays in the atmosphere far longer than CO2.

Roughly 30% of the world's land surface area is devoted to livestock production and the damage to soil and surrounding water resources is very high.

Compared to rice and vegetables, beef uses 16 times as much energy and produces 25 times as much CO2.

In Latin America roughly 70% of former forest cover is now being used for grazing.
The average person in the industrialized world eats about 180 pounds of meat a year. People in the developing nations consume about 68 pounds a year. Between population growth and the fact that as the world economy grows for countries like China and India, one of the first things they will do is increase their meat consumption.

QUOTES

You'd think if some tiger were lunging at your neck, your attention would be riveted on the tiger. But that's apparently not how it works in the age of global A.D.D. As a tiger sinks its teeth into the world's neck, we focus on the dust bunnies under the bed and the floorboards that need replacing on the deck. We live in the world of Perverse Cosmic Myopia, an inability to focus attention on the most perilous matter at hand.
David Brooks, Op-Ed Columnist for the The New York Times, March 20, 2009

It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
nor the most intelligent,
but the one most responsive to change.
Charles Darwin

If we sanction violence in our hearts, we are going to cooperate with whomever is waging war. We are participants because psychologically we sanction violence. If we really want to put an end to warfare, we need to explore deep into the human psyche where the roots of violence have a stronghold. Unless we find the roots of violence, ambition, and jealousy, we will not find our way out of chaos. Failure to eliminate their roots will doom us to endless miserable repetitions of the failures of the past.
Unknown Author (Included because it speaks so clearly of the dangers of primitive ego thinking.}

The Denial of Reality Inherent In Primitive Ego Thinking: The Challenges That Are Coming - Part 1© Dick Rauscher - Issue #32 February 25, 2009

In the last Newsletter article, I wrote about the growing and urgent need for each of us to increase our psychological intelligence through the intentional and conscious evolution of our primitive ego. I reaffirmed my belief that maturing our individual and collective primitive ego is essential if we are to successfully prepare for the rapidly approaching, life altering, changes we see gathering on the horizon.

Because of the " me ….now" narcissism and hubris of our primitive ego, we tend to ignore threats of danger, and warnings of impending change until they actually begin to impact us directly and personally; or, at a minimum, threaten to impact us in the "very" near future. As one writer commented recently, "it's amazing how shocked we can be when the totally expected actually arrives." Despite "knowing" cognitively that we are already running out of time to innovate and implement the pro-active choices and life-style changes that will be needed to effectively cope with the inevitable consequences and changes that are coming, I have absolutely no doubt we will all be emotionally "shocked" when they actually arrive on our doorstep.

Choosing to remain unconsciously trapped in primitive ego thinking, unable to creatively prepare for the life-style transformations that are certainly coming, could lead to a future that becomes very uncomfortable for us; perhaps even traumatic; a future in which we could find ourselves unnecessarily limited to powerless, last minute ineffective knee-jerk responses in our attempts to cope with the challenges we will be facing.

I do not want to suggest or imply that we are facing the end of the world or a dooms day scenario. I do not believe we are. But I am convinced that many of the inevitable challenges that are headed our way will almost certainly have the potential to bring about significant environmental and social change. Some could easily threaten the very survival of our species. But regardless of the level of threat, I believe it is absolutely clear that virtually all of the challenges bearing down on us have the potential to significantly impact the way we currently live our lives.

On the positive side, I am equally convinced that if we are willing to increase our psychological intelligence by learning about Primitive Ego Psychology and doing the work of intentionally maturing our primitive ego consciousness, we would have the vision and wisdom needed to creatively face these rapidly approaching challenges and threats we have created for ourselves. As Einstein reminds us, we cannot solve the problems that face us if we insist on using the same thinking process that created the problem in the first place. Fortunately, we do not have to. The willingness to grow and evolve is always a choice.

Understanding Primitive Ego Psychology and using the simple tools contained in the Primitive Ego Theory we explore in each issue of this Newsletter could easily put us, individually and collectively, on a path toward the conscious evolution of our species. Unfortunately, doing nothing is also a choice. So until the challenges looming on the horizon become "real" for us, we will probably be shocked by the inevitable disruptive social, economic, and life-style changes when they arrive.

In Part 1 of this three part series on the danger of denial inherent in primitive ego thinking, we will take a look at two of the approaching challenges and changes that will soon impact life as we know it; global warming and the myth of unlimited economic expansion reflected in our Western culture's voracious appetite to consume "stuff."

Denial #1) Global Warming
Despite daily warnings and mounting scientific evidence, the ominous threat of global warming is an excellent example of our collective primitive ego's ability to deny reality; our ability to essentially ignore a rapidly growing threat.

Virtually every reputable scientist in the world is in agreement that global warming is a critical and rapidly growing crisis for the future of our planet. Ice packs are melting. Glaciers are melting. Polar bears and other life forms are facing extinction. Weather patterns are shifting. Hurricanes and storms are growing in magnitude and intensity. Some bird species are already migrating further north and scientists are concerned many of them will not survive. The scientific evidence for global change due to warming is overwhelming.

Despite this growing evidence, our primitive ego prefers to deny the warnings of scientists by giving credibility to those global warming naysayers who attempt to introduce doubt and reject these scientifically based warnings on the grounds that we don't "really" have "conclusive proof" that global warming is real. They suggest that the earth has successfully gone through warming trends in the past so we don't really have to worry about it.

Regardless of claims to the contrary, the evidence for global warming continues to grow daily. Our oceans are becoming more acidic. Changes in ocean temperatures and currents are beginning to threatening the viability of our ocean's food chain and its ability to continue providing the various species of fish and other sources of protein that humans have harvested for thousands of years. Upwards of a thousand fish species are already migrating to cooler areas of the ocean and like the birds, many of them are not expected to survive. When added to the estimate that 75% of global fisheries are currently at or beyond sustainable levels of production, the long term survivability of many species of fish is already in question.

But because these changes are not an immediate threat to each of us individually, and because of the economic impacts that would result if we were to begin taking these threats seriously, global warming and its impact on the health of our planet are essentially ignored by our narcissistic primitive ego. If we bother to think about it at all, most of us dismiss these threats with the thought, "our government should do something about the problem".

We deny the impact of the changes attributed to global warming, in part, because we have been conditioned to see ourselves as subjectively separate, unique individuals living in a world where reason and logic rule. Our primitive ego has come to believe it is a superior and totally separate being.
Through the success of our efforts to scientifically understand the natural world by breaking matter into smaller and smaller parts so we can learn how they work, the hubris of our primitive ego has begun to believe that we now have the power to actually control nature.

We have lost touch with the humility of our early ancestors; with the more feminine aspects of our psyche. Over time, the more aggressive masculine psyche of our primitive ego increasingly denied the more intuitive feminine insights of our observing ego consciousness. Over time the feminine part of our psyche found itself effectively banished from consciousness and driven into the unconscious.

As a result of our primitive ego hubris, we have lost the feminine, observing ego wisdom of our ancestors who knew intuitively that we are nothing more than an infinitesimally small part of an immense universe. We have lost the awe necessary for us to maintain a spiritual heart connection with the fragile planetary life support system that sustains us.

We no longer intuitively recognize or experience our systemic inter-connection and inter-dependence with the rest of creation even though quantum physicists are now learning that the energies contained in every part of creation; from the largest galaxy of the universe down to the smallest elements of matter, are all actively communicating at the quantum level with every other part of creation.

Our collective primitive ego has embraced logic and reasoning to the point it has lost touch with its ancient sense of spirituality. It has convinced itself we have the God given right to arrogantly use the planet in whatever way best suits our immediate needs.

Only when we decide to abandon the untransformed masculine energy of our primitive ego and learn to embrace the transformed feminine energy of our more enlightened observing ego consciousness will we effectively reverse global warming.

Denial #2) The Myth of Unlimited Economic Expansion and Our Voracious Appetite for "Stuff"
Another good example of our primitive ego's inability to accept a growing threat as "real" is our voracious appetite in the Western world and Europe to consume "stuff". We never seem to have enough to satisfy our hunger for "more". The Buddhists refer to our primitive egos insatiable need for "more" as our hungry ego. Despite massive and growing evidence to the contrary, in its need for "more", our collective primitive ego has blindly bought into the myth that unlimited economic expansion is somehow an actual reality; a real and valid law of economics.

At the current level of consumption in Western culture we are depleting the natural resources of our planet at an alarming rate. Yet our collective primitive ego blindly continues to support an uncontrolled level of consumption that is clearly leading the world to inevitable economic, environmental, and social crises. In simple terms, our planet is simply unable to "sustain" our Western culture's current standard of living. And that number is about to increase from one billion to over four billion.

Our primitive ego dismisses the uneasy discomfort we feel when we read that the Eastern cultures of India and China have also decided to embrace the myth called unlimited economic expansion and are rapidly catching up with our Western culture's ability to consume. It is estimated that each of their economies will catch up with ours in roughly one to two generations. Even if the rest of the world remains at their current levels of consumption China and India alone will create a four-fold increase in our human species' ability to consume. The only emotional reality that emerges from the narcissism of our primitive ego consciousness is a gnawing sense of anger and resentment that "they" are going to start taking "our" vitally needed planetary resources; resources that "we" need.

Our appetite for "stuff" is enormous. Some say that we are literally "trashing" our planet. Consider the following:

Every man, woman, and child in America sends roughly 4 ½ pounds of trash a day to a landfill.
It is estimated that 99% of all purchases made by Americans will be trash in a landfill within six months of the time it is purchased.
America represents only about 5% of the world's population but we are currently consuming over 30% of the world's resources.

In other words, if everyone alive on the planet today were to enjoy life at our "current" American level of consumption, we would need the equivalent of roughly seven "earth sized planets" to support them. And each of those seven planets would be rapidly depleting their natural resources. By the end of the 21st century we would need roughly eleven earth sized planets. It would not be long before all eleven of those planets would be nearing the end of their ability to sustain a viable human culture.

There are those who suggest the answer to the resources problem is recycling; that we should recycle more. Recycling is obviously important, but it is a very small drop in the solution bucket. What is needed is a radical shift in our mind set or worldview. We need to learn to genuinely embrace the concept of long term "sustainability" in our human culture.

We need to shift from purchasing a never-ending list of "wants" to purchasing essentially only those things we actually "need". And the "needs" we purchase should reflect "real" cost to make them. In other words, our cost should include all of the costs of a "green" manufacturing process, all costs associated with recycling the item, and the green disposal costs for all non-recyclable and toxic materials in the item purchased.

The cost of products we are currently purchasing is artificially low. The recycling and disposal costs of toxic chemicals and materials used in the manufacture of the item, all of the recycling costs, and the final disposal of toxic material contained in the products we buy are all currently passed on to the general public. They are not included in the purchase price paid by the consumer. If we had to pay all of the real costs associated with the items we consume every day, there is no doubt that our level of consumption would quickly decrease to more manageable levels.

The collective narcissistic primitive ego of our Western culture currently embraces a non-sustainable, throwaway mindset. Through aggressive marketing campaigns we are encouraged to not only notice the obsolescence of virtually everything we own, we are reminded over and over to compare what we currently own to what we "could" own. At the same time we are being bombarded by aggressive marketing campaigns, the products we currently own are breaking down due to a real obsolescence intentionally designed into everything we purchase. This unconscious behavior to compulsively "throw away" so we can buy "new and better" is designed to drive the unlimited expansion of our economy and our capitalistic free market system.

Our collective primitive egos choose to ignore the reality that "unlimited economic expansion" is a non-sustainable myth. We do not perceive it as impacting us personally, so our narcissistic primitive ego ignores reality and continues to consume. The denial of our primitive ego spreads rapidly into other areas of our culture. Some warn that the default in credit card debt is going to be the next "crisis" we will be dealing with in the financial melt down we are experiencing. Once again, because it is not impacting us directly, our primitive ego can comfortable assume that it is someone else's problem to deal with. And once again, we will be "shocked" when that expected reality eventually arrives.

I have listed only two of the more than twenty challenges that scientists and social experts forecast we will be dealing with at a crisis level in the near future. The severity of some of these problems will undoubtedly be eased by scientific advancement and technical solutions, but to assume that scientists alone will be able to finally solve these challenges is simply another example of our species' primitive ego denial and narcissism; our total faith and dependence on logic and reason to solve all of our environmental and social problems.

To Briefly Summarize
Because our narcissistic "me" oriented primitive ego is rarely willing to share with "others" what we subjectively feel is "ours", the option of patiently waiting for our human culture to voluntarily mature and evolve our primitive ego consciousness into that of a more compassionate and spiritually mature observing ego consciousness is not realistic. It is also totally unrealistic to think that we can safely digest a four-fold increase in our current level of consumption in the next few generations. Our planet cannot continue to sustain even our current level of consumption.

Our collective primitive egos are convinced that our scientists will somehow use logic and reason to solve the problem. In the meantime, we can continue consuming and throwing yesterday's discarded "wants" in the local landfill. Doing more of the same and assuming that things will somehow change has been described as an excellent definition of insanity.

Sustainability is the concept that must become part of every economic and environmental decision we make in our human cultures. Sustainable economic expansion is possible. Unlimited economic expansion created and encouraged by primitive ego denial is not.

We are all interconnected. We all depend on the Earth and its resources for our survival. The earth is humanity's only life support system and it simply cannot continue to support unlimited human expansion and consumption. For those who have the courage to look at the growing evidence, our planet's fragile life support system is already showing significant signs of malfunction.

Our primitive ego belief that "if it doesn't impact me directly, it is not 'real' " is a very dangerous way to live. Just because our primitive ego embraces a strongly held belief does not mean that it accurately reflects truth. We must learn to embrace reality and facts even when they conflict with the narcissistic ideologies and firmly held beliefs of our primitive ego.

As most of the scientific world is already warning, continuing to deny the reality of global warming and the dangers of non-sustainable economic expansion will inevitably lead to irreversible planetary changes capable of threatening life as we know it; and could even potentially lead to the eventual extinction of our species. I am convinced that the Primitive Ego Theory of Human Social and Spiritual Development is a tool that could effectively lead our species toward the level of psychological intelligence that we so badly need to achieve. Primitive ego psychology should be taught at the grammar school level in our public educational system.

Coming In Parts 2 and 3 of This Series
The goal of this three part series of articles on the danger of denial in primitive ego thinking is to offer readers some creative steps that they can take to prepare for the changes that are coming. It is better to be prepared than "shocked" when the expected arrives. Like I said earlier, we are not talking about a dooms day scenario, we are talking about taking the steps necessary to better insure that the challenges that are coming do not create unnecessary crises in our lives.

In the next Newsletter, I will continue with Part 2 of this discussion on the danger of denial in our primitive ego psyche by taking a look at the inevitable consequences we will soon be facing if we continue to deny the current global population explosion; one more example of the more than twenty critical challenges that I believe we will be facing in the coming decades;. Then in Part 3, I will wrap up this series with an index listing a) a summary list of the challenges that are looming on the horizon, b) a general summary list of the important aspects and behaviors manifested by primitive ego thinking, and finally c) a detailed list of specific ideas and suggestions of what I believe each of us can do to proactively begin preparing for the challenges and changes that are coming.

PERSONAL THOUGHTS

The narcissism of our primitive ego is convinced that each of us is a separate, unique individual. We have been taught the concept of individual self-worth since the day we were born. It is an integral and valuable part of our Western psyche. In fact, most of the scientific and social advances credited to Western culture stem directly from our ability to honor our individuality. Concepts like freedom, democracy, justice, free will, capitalism, the power of reason and logic, and individualism all emerged in Western culture as a result of the cultural changes wrought by the Renaissance period and 17th century Enlightenment.

I have tried to demonstrate our urgent need to consciously and intentionally evolve our species consciousness in the articles I write for this Newsletter and in the many articles I have written on the subject of primitive ego that are published on the Stonyhill.com web site. Our primitive ego almost universally differentiates the world into dualistic, black-and-white categories of right and wrong, good and bad, and especially good and evil. And our primitive ego always needs to be "right".

As a result, our primitive ego is rarely able to emotionally embrace both extremes of any issue; especially when confronted with an antinomy or paradox in which there is a contradiction between two beliefs that are both true and reasonable. Our primitive ego will almost always choose to believe one side of the paradox, and then will forever, aggressively defend it as an absolute truth.

For example, yes we are subjectively unique and separate beings, and yes there is great power to be discovered in the use of logic and reason, but paradoxically, we are also radically and systemically interconnected with the Ground of Being, the Unity, and the Oneness of reality itself.

One of the great tragedies of Renaissance masculine thinking with its overwhelming focus on logic and reason, has been the loss of wisdom, and the more feminine aspects of our psyche inherent in nurturing, the reality of the systemic interconnection of Creation, and the power of intuition. We have split off the feminine psyche into the realm of the unconscious.

For the last four hundred years we have made amazing intellectual advances in our understanding of the universe and the mathematical laws of physics, but to gain this knowledge and the power to control the physical world that comes with this knowledge, required us to turn everything in creation into an object to be dissected, explored and understood. We have gained great knowledge, but we have sadly lost the deeper wisdom that our ancestors possessed. We have lost our spiritual, life connection, with the rest of creation.

Our primitive ego is interested only in power; the power to control that comes with knowledge; the power to create the illusion of safety. But there is an equally powerful knowledge that comes from the wisdom of knowing that we are not greater or more powerful than the forces of nature. Our ancestors understood the power of humility; the importance of working "with" the natural cycles of life. They honored the limits inherent in our humanity and the limits inherent in the natural laws of the created universe. They worshiped their Gods and honored the spirit of the Earth Mother that sustained them.

The hubris of our primitive ego has dominated our human culture and our human species, for almost 400 years. We have indeed created some amazing things. We have made advances that our ancestors could not even have dreamed about. However it is time to reclaim the ancient wisdom that we lost when we adopted Descartes' Cartesian faith in reason and logic; the deeper intuitive wisdom to know that we are headed on a path of hubris that will soon destroy everything we have created.

Our ancestors embraced humility. They intuitively "knew" that our species represents only a very, very, tiny part of an unimaginatively large and overwhelmingly complex Creation. Even after hundreds of years of scientific study and inquiry, our understanding and knowledge has yet only scratched the surface of Creation's mysteries. Yet in our hubris we think we can actually control the forces of nature and ignore the limits of natural laws built into the very fabric of creation itself without consequence. Such thinking represents a primitive ego level of ignorance and arrogant pride that could ultimately lead to the destruction of everything we have achieved as a species.

Only our more feminine, contemplative observing ego has the ability to quietly sit in awe of what we do not yet understand. Only our observing ego has the ability to begin working "with" Nature and honoring the subtle cycles of life; and the subtleties and complexities that we have yet to even discover. Only our observing ego is capable of the humility and wisdom we need to ensure our survival as a self-reflective species; to honor the limits that come with finite life. And unlike our narcissistic primitive ego, to know that we are not God.

If we are to experience wholeness, we must learn to integrate both the masculine and the feminine aspects of our psyche and bring both of them into full consciousness; a spiritual level of consciousness we call the Authentic Self. The failure to achieve this level of integration will leave us psychically fragmented, trapped in the psychological limits of logic and reason, unable to realize the virtually unlimited potential of our reflexively conscious species.

In a nut shell, this is why I write about the dangers and narcissism of primitive ego thinking and why I feel it is so important for us to understand and intentionally evolve and mature our primitive ego consciousness into that of a more observing and humble contemplative ego. We may not be fully ready for the challenges that we have unknowingly created for ourselves, but ready or not, they will soon be upon us. These challenges are going to force us as a self-conscious species to move beyond the current adolescent narcissism of our species and intentionally manifest a more mature adult consciousness. Primitive Ego Theory is an effective tool to ensure this conscious evolution of our consciousness, but the choice is ours and time is running out. Life as we know it is about to undergo some very challenging changes.

Blessings for a holiday season filled with love and compassion. See you in the New Year.
Namaste
Dick Rauscher

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE

The Buddha did not become enlightened by pretending to be.
Annie O'Shaughnessy, Soul Flares, June 2008

Primitive ego theory can be used to achieve the authentic spiritual growth of our primitive ego consciousness. Authentic spiritual growth, or growth in self-awareness is best accomplished when we intentionally adopt and incorporate spiritual practices into our lives. This is the individual part of authentic spiritual growth and reflects a deep commitment and desire to grow spiritually.

Authentic spiritual growth through the evolution of our primitive ego consciousness however, is a very difficult journey to sustain until we are open to bringing our spiritual practices into a mutually supportive community. Authentic spiritual growth is an inner light best reflected in relationship with others. When asked if he was enlightened, the master replied. I do not know. Ask my wife and my children. Only they can know.

Unconditional love, compassion, justice, care, inclusiveness, diversity, and cooperation are always manifested and shared in community with others. If we are serious about our spiritual growth, if we want to achieve authentic spiritual growth, then we need to find others who are also interested in growing spiritually and come together in community to mutually support one another on our respective journeys.